Control devices mostly feature a plurality of electronic components, which are connected to other components outside the control device. For protection against environmental influences or mechanical stresses control devices are normally installed in the housing. Furthermore, to facilitate the existence of a connection to components located outside the housing, an electrical connection from the housing interior to the housing exterior is necessary.
EP 0 375 271; B1; describes such a connection. This connection is constituted by a supporting plate on which track conductors are printed. The plate manufactured in this manner is applied at the connecting point between a housing and a top and sealed with solid seals to the housing and the top. An electrical component in the interior of the housing is connected via lead wires to the conductors printed on the supporting plate. Lead wires are, in turn, soldered to the printed track conductors on the exterior of the housing, which facilitates a connection to a component located outside.
The disadvantage of this arrangement is that the printed track conductors cannot be plugged in, and that they cannot be connected directly via a plug connection to further components. For this reason, many interfaces are necessary when printed track conductors are used, since the track conductors on the printed circuit board must connect to the respective electrical components via additional lead wires. Here, each interface represents a potential source of error. Moreover, the manufacture of a printed track conductor on a printed circuit board is cost intensive. Furthermore, the spatial arrangement of the interfaces can only be altered by a new printed circuit board. In addition, any connection of the printed circuit board to the respective electrical components, via lead wires, reacts susceptibly to vibrations.
DE 33 15 655; A1; describes an electrical connection using flexible track conductors. The flexible track conductors are applied to the connection points between the housing and a top and are, in turn, sealed through solid seals to the housing and top. The flexible track conductors can be routed from the connection point directly to the electrical component in the housing interior. In this way, the arrangement of the components is relatively flexible.
Although the use of flexible track conductors increases the variability of the arrangement of the electrical components, it is just as cost intensive. This connection also cannot be plugged into another component, thus necessitating the presence of an additional interface for each of the connected electrical components.
The objective of the invention is thus to make possible a housing with an electrical connection between a housing interior and a housing exterior that is economical, that facilitates a variable adaptation of the connection from components located outside the housing and keeps the number of interfaces to a minimum. Moreover, the electrical connection should be made to be especially oil tight, even at high temperatures.